One possibility was their dedication to maintaining classic foot-orienteering as the priority.

Any move to support or grow MTBO would cause them to lose focus on existing foot-orienteering commitments.

Another possibility could be that there was no one dedicated at the Orienteering USA level to see MTBO grow.

Without someone steering the MTBO mission at the national level, it would be very difficult for them to see any opportunities emerge.

All the growth data was there, even if their interest was not.

I fear that the real reason, however, is that the organization just didn’t have any interest in creating a national MTBO circuit.

They receive all the same reports as all the other club members do and could make a decision based on all the same data too.

But sometimes taking no action is a decision.

Whatever the reason, the lack of national-level interest in MTBO does seem to be connected to a dramatic decrease in MTBO events across the United States after 2016.

The end result was a 70-percent reduction of MTBO events in over three short years, going from 22 in 2014, to a few as 6 MTBO events in 2017.

No Interest in Building an Environment for World MTBO in America

Consider what an American mountain biking (MTB) athlete has to do to become ranked internationally.

They have to race in enough locally- and regionally-sanctioned events to earn enough points to get invited to national-level events.

Additionally, before they can ever be considered for a US Olympic Team spot or to ride as a USA Cycling (USAC) professional athlete they have to rise to the category of Professional using a USAC licensing system.

Even most major Universities in the United States have collegiate mountain biking teams that have to earn their ranking in a very similar way.

However, if an American wants to become a World MTBO athlete, up until now, all they had to do was submit their name, buy a plane ticket and show up to the World MTBO Championships.

There are no locally- or regionally-sanctioned events, no points system, nor any need to qualify for any national-level events — because there are none to qualify for.

What are the consequences of not having any MTBO framework in place to prepare athletes for the brutal beating they will receive at the hands of the European MTBO teams?

Six straight years of last place finishes, last place rankings, and no up-and-coming prospects to work with.

The solution is simple: encourage orienteering clubs to host MTBO events by setting the example at the national level.

Just like the New York Yankees encouraged the development of Baseball athletes through the creation of the Farm League system, Orienteering USA could foster the creation of a localized MTBO network by creating a National race circuit.

Local clubs and mountain bike race promoters could see the advantage in developing local events if it could result in expert-level participants going to “the show” if there was a “show” to go to in the United States.

Unfortunately, there is no one at the Orienteering USA level pushing to establish a National MTBO Championship.

Additionally, there is no one at the Orienteering USA level even advocating for a few regional MTBO events.

After seven years of pushing, and six years of sending ill-prepared MTBO teams to World MTBO Championships, there is still no national framework for MTBO in America.

What has it accomplished?

A sub-par racing resume process that has yet to produce a single, successful American MTBO champion, and little else.

Now what?

In 2018, the effort to build mountain bike orienteering as an up-and-coming orienteering discipline is all but dead at the national level.

Some grassroots efforts are still producing MTBO events here and there, and of course, Adventure Racing is still a dark horse in this effort.

But for now, it’s even questionable that there will be another American MTBO tourism group going to the World MTBO Championships… again, and getting crushed… again.

That being said, maybe having Orienteering USA not send an MTBO team this year would be a good thing.

Not that I want to stop seeing Americans compete on the world stage.

I’m just tired of watching Americans get beat by Europeans on the machine — the mountain bike — that Americans invented.

No, instead I think it is time to acknowledge the 500-pound gorilla in the MTBO room:

Orienteering USA’s mountain bike orienteering experiment has failed!

Not sending a team this year would show all orienteers that Orienteering USA is finally ready to admit it’s failure.

They need to be done subsidizing a cause that they don’t believe — that is UNTIL they ARE ready to believe in it.

And believing it would mean no more half-measures.

It would mean real attention, real funding, and a real plan to bring MTBO to the United States.

Then when Orienteering USA is finally ready to invest in American MTBO, it would find the right person — or team — to bring this vision to life.

I’m tired of seeing Americans get beat overseas.

I want to WIN!

So until that time — a time where Orienteering USA is done pretending and is actually ready to get serious about American MTBO — I would rather NOT see an American MTBO Team at the World MTBO Championships.